Florida Vacation with the Smith's!
Shawn worked very hard to get us into special places to eat. Here is a list of the few places that we did get in:
- Dinner the first night in Cinderella's Castle
- Emily and Mommy had Tea Time with Aurora
- Breakfast with the Princesses in Epcot
We also got very fortunate and did Pirates and Princesses the first night. The park didn't close till around midnight and the kids got a chance to search for jewels in the park. This was a limited access and it was FABULOUS! We were able to just walk right on to all the rides...teacups, and dumbo were their favorite.
For those who are unaware, Emily's real favorite princess is Aurora. Shawn was able to get her into the Bippity Boppity Boutique where she got all done up like a princess. She was on cloud nine too! She wore her Aurora dress and got glamourous! Nails painted and make-up done...even eye shadow.
Eric was in love when we went to the Disney Marketplace. Inside of the Disney Marketplace Eric got to experience his first Lego store. We always had a hard time pulling him out of that place. We were lucky that when Emily was in getting made into a princess, Eric got the chance to spend a whole hour at the Lego store. They had lego's for kids to build outside and lego's to explore inside. Yes he managed to sucker mom and dad out of a few new lego sets as well!
Keep in mind during this whole Disney experience I was 6 months pregnant with Dylan. Which could really explain why he is so in love with Mickey Mouse today. You will have to check out his First Birthday party to understand. Nevertheless, being 6 months pregnant and walking all over the place it had it's downsides. On the flight back, I kept having contractions. Painful ones too. There were points in time while going through the airport that I had to tell Shawn to stop because I was hurting so bad. Shawn was really worried that we were going to have a baby on the plane. I wasn't worried, I knew that with all the walking and stress of trying to get home that they were false, but after 2 hours the thought did start to come into my mind that maybe I was going to end up having the baby early. Luckily, that did not happen and we made it home safely.
While down in florida we also took time to go to Daytona Beach. The kids love their beach time. This was also a very good education lesson. While Eric and Emily were digging in the sand, he reached sea level. This is the point where the water comes up through the sand. He was very confused why he was so far away from the water but yet it was filling his hole he made. So we explained to him about sea level and he then proceeded to tell us that everytime he would go to a beach he was going to dig to sea level again. He thought it was amazing!
During our fun beach time, Daddy turned Emily into a Mermaid. She was amazed by that. It was truly amazing to see Emily sit still long enough for Daddy to put all the sand on her and allow us to take pictures. Emily doesn't like to sit still at all!
While at the beach we took snacks too and had a little picnic. The kids that this was great. A whole day at the beach. It was a good day to be there too. It wasn't too hot or too cold and the kid's didn't get sun burnt. You will also notice that Eric wore his sandles the whole entire time. This boy does not like to show his toes. He doesn't like to go barefoot either. He didn't want to get sand between the toes, but it eventually happened but just with the sandles on his toes.
As the day was coming to an end, we drove back to Orlando to our hotel and changed clothes. The kids decided they wanted to go back to Magic Kingdom and ride some rides. So we did. The evening hours are the best. Plus you get a chance to see the beautiful firework display that they put on. Tinkerbell even flies through the sky. The kids wanted to know how she did that. Eventually, Eric figured it out because he saw the line strung up from the lights reflecting off of it.
Our fun adventure in Florida wasn't over yet! We decided to take the kids to Sea World too! The kids loved Sea World. I would highly recommend going if you have never been. The exhibits, shows and everything is very enjoyable! The kids even got a chance to feed the dolphins. Emily is obsessed with dolphins. She even likes the Dolphin football team because of their maskcot!
We spent a whole day in Sea World. The kids didn't even ask to go back to Disney that night and I was very happy about that one. We were able to see the first Shamu show of the day. The kids were utterly amazed. They have these amazing large LED panels that open and close and project the show on them as well. That was a cool techy feature.
The kids also enjoyed riding the various rides at Sea World. However, due to me being prego, I got to just stand-by and watch them have fun. It is surprising what similar rides at Sea World are not for prego ladies but they are ok at Disney World. Oh well, best to be on the safe side of life!
The kids really enjoyed the Sea Otter and Sea Lion show too. It is amazing what people can get animals to do. I did my best to get facial reactions and scene shots, but the faces were the best from them. It was a very entertaining show and I highly recommend going. The wait for the show wasn't terrible either but very worthwhile.
After watching the Sea Otters and Lions, we were able to get right in the front of the line for feeding of the dolphins. Emily was very excited. However, she was a little on the short side so Shawn or I had to hold her up so she could attempt to feed the dolphin. Every time they came close Emily would just toss it to them. Eric really tried hard to let them grab it out. This experience was cool.
Our last stop in Sea World was the Penguid Encounter exhibit. The kids love penguins. They were frantically swimming around too. The kids had to walk on a people mover and that was more enjoying then the penguins after the third time around. I got a chance to just sit back and watch because I was exhausted!
By time we got back to the hotel they were still wide eye. But once they climbed into their pj's and got comfy they were fast asleep. It was a very fun and successful day.